America's No. 1 freedom fighter

Thats what you might think if you spent too much time listening to politicians in his home state of Washington, or perusing ill-mannered and condescending Internet postings smearing the initiative-crazed madman for seemingly single-handedly starving their Big Brothers in Olympia, the states quaint capital.

Legislators have compared Eyman to a terrorist and a pig — but, ever-so-generously, not a terrorist pig. Hes said to lack one ounce of compassion and to be the states most infamous political liar.

David Goldstein, a progressive blogger and former radio talk show host, filed an initiative in 2003 that read in part, [B]e it resolved, That the citizens of the State of Washington do hereby proclaim that Tim Eyman is a Horses Ass. Yet, Goldstein lacked the gusto to get the signatures required to put the measure to a vote.

In September, a comment on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer website took it to another level: Wont someone just kill Eyman already? But dont feel threatened, as the author added, Oh wait, only righties kill people over politics.

It seems too many Democrats and lefties dont like democracy nearly so much as they like to proclaim . . . at least when they lose. At Eymans hands, they lose fairly often.

But is Eyman the actual deliverer of the hated coup-stick thwackings? Eyman has no powerful political position. Hes simply a voter and, more importantly, a proponent of initiative measures. Everything hes accomplished has merely allowed the people of Washington to vote and make the final decision. Eyman explains:

I didnt repeal the state motor vehicle excise tax (I-695 in 1999) and local vehicle fees (I-776 in 2002) . . . impose 1 percent limits on property tax collections by state and local governments (I-747 in 2001) . . . give the state auditor the authority to do comprehensive performance audits of state and local governments (I-900 in 2005) . . . re-impose a 2/3s vote requirement for the Legislature to raise taxes (I-960 in 2007), the voters did.